9-11-01

I remember what I was doing exactly eight years ago today. I’m sure you all do. It's right up there with the Challenger explosion for me, and even the start of the Persian Gulf war - the first war to occur in my lifetime, in which I was old enough to know what was going on. Life pretty much came to a halt with the somewhat rude awakening that a terrorist attack of this nature could occur. On our own soil. Eight years ago exactly at this time, I was watching the news and getting ready for work. It was just another day. Eight years ago, and in about a 1/2 hour, that all changed. The breaking news story came on. I was paralyzed in the spot I was standing. Even more so when the second plane hit - and I realized that it wasn't a replay, but another attack. Happening at that moment. Live. Cameron had just turned 1. I was still a new mommy. I was devastated. My first thought was about all those parents that lost a child in that daycare center. All those people that lost a child working in the building. All those people that lost a child on the airplane. Then I started crying. I had only been back to work from maternity leave for a few months and I remember dropping Cameron off at Bryan's aunt's house and how hard it was for me to leave. The third hijacked planed crashed into the Pentagon while I was on the freeway to work. I remember there being a lot of traffic and it moving slowly. People were numb and listening to the radio intently. Nobody at work was even working. There were groups of people all huddled around TVs, computers, radios, whatever they could, just to get some information. And when the last plane crashed, I remember the silence that followed. No phones. No talking, nothing. More numbness. Some people just got up and left. I think I called Sara - again. Just to calm myself. Reassure myself that this was happening at the other end of the country and Cameron was okay. But it didn't matter the distance. We all felt the pain and the shock and the big question of Why? I couldn't wait to go home and see my husband and son.

Some pictures I pulled from the web ...

So in honor of September 11, I just wanted to take a minute and recollect as well as pay tribute to those lives that were lost. Now ... I'm going upstairs to give my baby a kiss, a hug, wake him up for school and thank god that my family is here with me.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

My baby is 9 today!

I can't believe it. I was giving him the rundown of what was happening 9 years ago "at this time" and "right now I was doing this" and just cannot fathom that it has been that long already. He requested daddy's special breakfast burritos this morning before school, and we've got homemade nachos requested for dinner. Plus the chocolate cream pie that mom made for dessert AND of course, his presents. I was told I was a little cruel this morning ... for having his presents and some balloons sitting on the kitchen table when he came down for breakfast. Of course he couldn't open them ... daddy wasn't home. So he was a bit ticked. I guess I don't blame him. Sitting there eating his burrito and staring at them. Knowing he can't open them until later. He told me to move them away. But no ... I'm cruel. Oh well. As for now, I took a few pictures this morning (Cam took a few self-portraits as well) so I thought I'd post them. Check back later for more!

And this ... was Cameron's response after I explained for the fifth time that yes, he still had to go to school on his birthday.



He has his "friend" birthday party on Saturday, so I'll be sure and post pics of that later.

Why 09/09/09 Is So Special

Yahoo! News had this article posted and I thought it was pretty interesting. Although WE all know why 09/09/09 "Is So Special"!!!!

Have special plans this 09/09/09?

Everyone from brides and grooms to movie studio execs are celebrating the upcoming calendrical anomaly in their own way. In Florida, at least one county clerk's office is offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99. The rarity of this Sept. 9 hasn't been lost on the creators of the iPod, who have moved their traditional Tuesday release day to Wednesday to take advantage of the special date. Focus Features is releasing their new film "9", an animated tale about the apocalypse, on the 9th.

Not only does the date look good in marketing promotions, but it also represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your calendars for January 1, 3001), depending on how you want to count it.
Though technically there's nothing special about the symmetrical date, some concerned with the history and meaning of numbers ascribe powerful significance to 09/09/09. For cultures in which the number nine is lucky, Sept. 9 is anticipated - while others might see the date as an ominous warning.

Math magic

Modern numerologists - who operate outside the realm of real science - believe that mystical significance or vibrations can be assigned to each numeral one through nine, and different combinations of the digits produce tangible results in life depending on their application. As the final numeral, the number nine holds special rank. It is associated with forgiveness, compassion and success on the positive side as well as arrogance and self-righteousness on the negative, according to numerologists. Though usually discredited as bogus, numerologists do have a famous predecessor to look to. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and father of the famous theorem, is also credited with popularizing numerology in ancient times. "Pythagoras most of all seems to have honored and advanced the study concerned with numbers, having taken it away from the use of merchants and likening all things to numbers," wrote Aristoxenus, an ancient Greek historian, in the 4th century B.C.As part of his obsession with numbers both mathematically and divine, and like many mathematicians before and since, Pythagoras noted that nine in particular had many unique properties.

Any grade-schooler could tell you, for example, that the sum of the two-digits resulting from nine multiplied by any other single-digit number will equal nine. So 9x3=27, and 2+7=9.
Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those will also break down to nine. For example: 9x62 = 558; 5+5+8=18; 1+8=9. Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 + 5 +2).

Loving 9

Both China and Japan have strong feelings about the number nine. Those feelings just happen to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. The Chinese pulled out all the stops to celebrate their lucky number eight during last year's Summer Olympics, ringing the games in at 8 p.m. on 08/08/08. What many might not realize is that nine comes in second on their list of auspicious digits and is associated with long life, due to how similar its pronunciation is to the local word for long-lasting (eight sounds like wealth). Historically, ancient Chinese emperors associated themselves closely with the number nine, which appeared prominently in architecture and royal dress, often in the form of nine fearsome dragons. The imperial dynasties were so convinced of the power of the number nine that the palace complex at Beijing's Forbidden City is rumored to have been built with 9,999 rooms.

Japanese emperors would have never worn a robe with nine dragons, however. In Japanese, the word for nine is a homophone for the word for suffering, so the number is considered highly unlucky - second only to four, which sounds like death. Many Japanese will go so far as to avoid room numbers including nine at hotels or hospitals, if the building planners haven't already eliminated them altogether.

Happy belated Labor Day!

Just a quick post. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Our was great ... we had fun hanging out with mom and dad, relaxing - a lot, and actually worked for a bit. It was pretty busy, but great overall. Think it was successful in the "business" sense, and gave us LOTS to think about. More on that later. I know, rude, huh? ;)

Thought this was a great quote to start out a short work week! Yahoo!

"Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day." ~Ann Landers

Batter Blaster

This is awesome. Have seen this, and passed it. Many times. But when you're grocery shopping with Bryan, well he can get sucked into things like this: Pancake & Waffle Batter in a Can! Yes, it's true. Much like a can of whipped cream. Why not? Thought we'd give it a try. We picked up a can of the Original batter, and was a bit leery about the fact that it was Organic, but ... it is fantastic. The squirt can was easy to use on the griddle, as you can see, you can pretty much squirt your batter into whatever you'd like.

Not all that cheap, $4.99 for a can, but ... it did make about 25 pancakes or so, it was very easy and convenient, no messes, and it is pretty darn good for you in comparison to Bisquick. The pancakes were absolutely delicious. In fact, Cam had about 8 of them the first morning. Can't beat that!